Nosler Ballistic Tip hunting bullet

[Wazukie]

Anybody ever use them?  I like the BC they have and am thinking about trying them out but dont want to spend the money if they arent any good for deer, bear and elk.

[SemperFidelis97]

I have used the Winchester Supremes with the ballistic tip dont know if its the nosler version.  They are a great round for accuracy, but they explode on impact usually a six plus inch circumfrence bloodshot area around the entry wound I personally wouldnt use them again for anything I wanted to eat.  I really miss the Winchester Supreme fail safes they sold there for awhile now that was a great bullet

[addicted]

I wacked a couple whiteys with them. They died just fine.  As i understand the bullet is fairly cheap too. I'm sure they kill bear and elk, but it wouldnt be my first choice. bump it up to the accubond at that point if you want the polymer tip.

[SemperFidelis97]

What addicted said the accubond is actually a much better bullet for weight retention if I wanted my meat full of shrapnel I would hunt with grenades.

[bobcat]

I use the 150 grain BT in my 270 Win. They do open up fast, and you won't find a more accurate bullet. I wouldn't use them on elk but for deer and antelope, especially at longer distances, you can't beat 'em. I haven't had a problem with them ruining meat. Sure if you hit a deer in the shoulder you'd probably lose the shoulder but that's true with many bullets. It's all in your shot placement.

[jackelope]

My hunting pard shoots them out of a 7 rem mag in the 120 grain size. They come apart a lot, but the deer and coyotes I've seen him shoot, which is 5 or 6 deer and the same number of coyotes have been made extremely dead extremely quick. I like the Accubonds but I can't argue with the dead critter making ability of the BT's. His rifle is super accurate with them too. Meat lost is not too much of an issue but there's definitely more bloodshot meat if he hits bone because the bullets do grenade pretty good when they hit something solid.

[Alan K]

The Nosler Winchester C/T Ballistic Silvertip is the bullet that shoots best out of my .300 WSM that I've found so far.  Grouping 1" at 200 yards in combination with that .509 BC (180 gr.) makes it tough for me to want to try loading anything else.  I just loaded 100 rounds of it last week, dying to get out and shoot some more! 

[grundy53]

The Nosler Winchester C/T Ballistic Silvertip is the bullet that shoots best out of my .300 WSM that I've found so far.  Grouping 1" at 200 yards in combination with that .509 BC (180 gr.) makes it tough for me to want to try loading anything else.  I just loaded 100 rounds of it last week, dying to get out and shoot some more! 

thats what I load for my 25-06 85gr for yotes and 115gr for deer. I load 200gr accubonds for my 2 .300 win mags. Love both bullets.

[hub]

Anybody ever use them?  I like the BC they have and am thinking about trying them out but dont want to spend the money if they arent any good for deer, bear and elk.

Nosler web sight says the ballistic tip is a deer  bullet. I would not use them on elk or even black bear. They are extremely accurate and rival the accubond in the accuracy dept. I still have not killed a deer with the BT but have loaded 140 and 150,s and killed a few targets. Oh brother they are accurate in my old 270.

[carpsniperg2]

I have used them in many guns and seen animals killed with them. I love nosler bullets but the btips are good but do lose a lot of weight. They kill good but can also ruin a lot of meat and blow up on heavy bone. Go with the accubonds or etips best bullets out there! I shoot the ct's in my 2 7mm-08's they are great for deer sized game.

[johnnyaustin44]

i shot the 180s out of my 300 ultra last year and it really puts the deer down on the spot. shot hit behind the shoulder and punched a 4 inch diameter hole through both sides of rib cage and i havent found any pieces of the bullet thoughout eating him. shot was about 330 yards and it did the trick

[carpsniperg2]

I should have one laying around here some place. My wife was dead set on using the 270wsm that she now claims lol all I had loaded was some 130 btips I was shooting yote with. I told her to stay away from the shoulder and just take lungs on her deer why using it. She shot her best buck at about 130y or so he was quartered to us. The bullet went in threw the middle of the close lung and threw the liver and stuck under the hide on the off side. It only had like 50% weight retention but did a number on that buck, he went less then 10 yards. I will see if I can find the bullet and post a pic tomorrow, if I can find it threw all my other stuff floating around.

[CedarPants]

I've shot deer with the Winchester Nosler BT in both .308 and .30-06 ..... with the exception of 1, they have all gone down in their tracks (literally, dropped when hit and died within a minute).  The 1 that didn't drop was just a strong willed deer - double lunged him as well as clipping his heart, he still got up and ran a couple hundred yards before expiring (he was bedded when I shot).  Pulled that bullet out of his far shoulder and it had mushroomed perfectly.

Great bullet.  My  about them would be use them on mid to long range shots.  Not necessary for shorter shots, as at shorter ranges you may run into some of the issues about breaking apart that others have mentioned.

[JColony]

I use 120gr BT's out of my 7mag for yotes and 160gr Accubonds for big game.  Both are ridiculously accurate, just like the heavier better constructed bullet for the shos that count.

[MtnMuley]

I've had great luck with them on deer.  I use the 130's.  They definately fragment rapidly and sometimes waste some meat.

[lokidog]

I've used 165's in my 30-06.  I can only think of three kills, probably more as they are what I used to only reload since my gun shoots 3/4" or less groups with them.  First was an antelope at about 90 yards, punched through both lungs behind the shoulder, animal ran about 100 yards, second was a deer in CA near Lake Shasta, about 120 yards, shot through the neck (spine) from back to front under the chin, 3/4" exit hole, dropped in it's tracks, and the third was an elk in CO at 350 to 450 yards (estimates from three people, no range finder), hit behind the shoulder, elk dropped, got up and ran about 15 yards downhill where it broke its ankle and went down permanently.  The elk shot looked like I had hit the chest cavity with a shotgun as the bullet completely disintegrated.

They are very accurate but I think there are probably bullets out there that are as accurate and will hold together better.

These were all in the late 80's, don't know if they have changed their production techniques or not.

[JKEEN33]

I use both the BT and Accubonds when reloading. They both shoot great, but after shooting elk with the BT's I would agree that the Accubond is the better bullet for Elk. I still use the BT's for smaller game and practice since I can get them for almost half price of the Accubonds. Both are very accurate in everything I shoot them in.

[carpsniperg2]

As promised pics, 130g btip 130y shot. The bullet is about 55% of starting weight. Shot threw front lung with buck quartered to us and threw the liver and stuck  under the skin on the off side. Buck went less then 10 yards.

[carpsniperg2]

Had to switch from the phone to the computer to get a pic of the deer Her best buck/bench leg, he was a webbed up masher Also thats my little bro in the pic with her

[jackelope]

She needs a longer shade on that scope. I think you can screw them end to end.

[Emptyhanded]

Nosler recommends to keep the MV below 3000 FPS with the ballistic tip to minimize frangibility. Or at least they did when they first came out. The first run of Btips were very frangible and i think thats where the started to get a bad rap for blowing up. Since then they have thickened the jackets on the hunting bullets to make them less frangible. That being said some bullets they beefed up more than others, the 7mm 120 gr. Has a significantly thicker jacket as do the .338 cal btips. Those are the only 2 i can remember but i am sure there are more.
I load the 150 BT in my brothers 7mm-08, he doesn't hunt much any more so hasn't killed anything with it yet, but personally i wouldn't hesitate to put one in an elk. 

[carpsniperg2]

She needs a longer shade on that scope. I think you can screw them end to end.

Hey watch it now. Like I said it was mine and now she claims it. I cant tell you how many times a sunshade has saved my butt and helped me get a shot. I use to not run them and got pissed after not being able to make about 50 shots over the years. Then started using them and never had a problem. They are on all my main guns now. Picking on me over a sunshade man that hurts

[GoldTip]

I shot the 180gr Nosler BT's out of my 300 winny for exactly one year.  Shot 3 or 4 deer with them and 2 elk.  This was 2 different states, both elk died, but horrible bullet performance and each required follow up shots.  All deer dropped essentailly at the shot.  But plenty of blood shot.  Never shot them again except at targets.  That gun now gets a steady of 180gr Swift Scirocco's.

[jackelope]

She needs a longer shade on that scope. I think you can screw them end to end.

Hey watch it now. Like I said it was mine and now she claims it. I cant tell you how many times a sunshade has saved my butt and helped me get a shot. I use to not run them and got pissed after not being able to make about 50 shots over the years. Then started using them and never had a problem. They are on all my main guns now. Picking on me over a sunshade man that hurts

Thats because you hunt in a land that has sunshine...

[Wazukie]

Thanks for the replys all.  I think i will not try them.  I am going to try the Sierra game king SBT 180 grn though in my 300 WSM.  They have a BC of .501 and are only about $30 per 100.  This should put me up around 3100 fps compared to the the 2950 I'm shooting now.  We'll see how it goes.

[MtnMuley]

Personally, I really dislike the Game Kings.  Watched a medium sized buck take 5 through the chest once and still limped 100 yds.  If you plan on shooting them out of a 300 WSM, I'd highly recommend to try  Triple Shock, Accubond, Interbond, Accubond, Scirocco, or a Berger.  Especially if you're looking at the 180 gr. bullet.

[carpsniperg2]

She needs a longer shade on that scope. I think you can screw them end to end.

Hey watch it now. Like I said it was mine and now she claims it. I cant tell you how many times a sunshade has saved my butt and helped me get a shot. I use to not run them and got pissed after not being able to make about 50 shots over the years. Then started using them and never had a problem. They are on all my main guns now. Picking on me over a sunshade man that hurts

Thats because you hunt in a land that has sunshine...

Yes indeed, most places I go do have sunlight I guess you could say I can see the light LOL

[bearpaw]

I would recommend just about any other bullet for big game before ballistic tips, they seem to be designed for quick expansion which is generally better for smaller game. I would be interested to hear how the game kings do, I have no experience with them.

[buckhorn2]

We switched from ballistic tips in our 300 wbys to accubounds because of they way they came apart. I used game kings in my 378-338 and they worked fine for me but going to load accubonds in it this year they are 250 grain might be why the game kings worked because they were 250 grain.

[BOWHUNTER45]

This is where some get confused on the ballistic tip... When the ballistic tip first came out by nosler they were basically a hollow point with the poly tip ... which expands on impact ... and make big holes on inpact which sometimes on bigger game does not penetrate worth the heck ... So all I am saying is when buying a ballistic tip bullet be sure they are a solid base bullet like hornadays SST ...IF thats what you want ...not much on any hollow point except for varmit hunting 

[BOWHUNTER45]

Had to switch from the phone to the computer to get a pic of the deer Her best buck/bench leg, he was a webbed up masher Also thats my little bro in the pic with her

  NICE ONE !!!

[Alan K]

I don't think weight retention is all that vital, heck just look at the Berger bullets.  So long as it has the velocity (and in turn energy) to penetrate before coming apart I don't think they're any less likely to kill.  They'll just turn some meat into burger for you ahead of time. 

[BOWHUNTER45]

I just about bought some berger bullets the other day but they were $45 smacks and I am not that desperate yet    I shot one whitetail with a 130 gr Ballistic tip and hit it behind the shoulder and yeah it up ended him but it blood shot the sheet out of it ... No more Nosler Ballistics for me.... hornaday SST hands down .....